pass a law that would prevent a tax hike on the first $250,000 of everybody's income. >> the election's over. he won. congratulations. >> if we can get a few house republicans to agree as well -- >> we all agree but we're not going to raise taxes on people that make less than $250,000. we should take them out of this discussion. >> i've got a pen. i'm ready to sign it. >> he's got the republicans on the ropes and they know it. >> obama's answer to this budget crisis is to raise taxes on the wealthy just because he ran on that promise. and won the election. >> the president really wants to reach an agreement, he needs to be talking with the members of his own party right here in washington. >> it's too important for washington to screw this up. we really need to get this right. ♪ how do you like me now ♪ ♪ how do you like me now ♪ >> good afternoon, it is

difficult to hold down the excitement here in new york. it is a growing frenzy that everyone's talking about. there are fantasies of celebration, if the numbers go their way. there are teams pooling resources. there's talk of high stakes and long odds. no, it's not the powerball lottery. it's the fiscal cliff. just in the last hour, at his first cabinet meeting since re-election, the president expressed the urgent need for a deal, one that he wants to see extend tax cuts for the middle class while letting them expire for the highest earners. >> there is no reason why taxes on middle class families should go up. it would be bad for the economy. it would be bad for those families. in fact, it would be bad for the world economy. and so i think it's very important that we get that resolved. and i am very open to a fair and balanced approach. >> the president met with middle class tax payers today, urging

them to employ twitter hash tag my y2k, telling congress this is too important for them to screw it up. >> today i'm asking congress to listen to the people who sent us here to serve. i'm asking americans all across the country to make your voice heard. it's too important for washington to screw this up. >> and a new survey shows the president has the public on board in a new washington post poll, 60% support raising taxes on incomes over $250,000. a healthy majority. indeed, even some republicans appear to be under sway, by the force of reason. >> in my view, we all agree we're not going to raise taxes on people that make less than $250,000. we should just take them out of this discussion right now. continue to fight against any rate increases. try to continue to work honestly for a much bigger deal.

>> oklahoma where the republicans agree with the president? well, that about turned speaker john boehner's blood into a red river valley of rage. >> i told tom earlier in our conference meeting that i disagreed with him. you're not going to grow the economy if you raise tax rates on the top -- on the top two rates. it will hurt small businesses. will hurt our economy. >> taxing the rich hurts small business, yes, the very familiar offerings of one mitt romney. losing presidential candidate. who will be enjoying a free government lunch tomorrow at the white house at the invitation of the president. not sure what will be on the menu, but many are betting on a generous serving of crow with a beet salad. let's go to our panel, with him y william cohen, and here in new york is msnbc political analyst jonathan alter, also a columnist for the "bloomberg view." the president is pressing his

case hard for a deal on middle class tax relief. secretary geithner will head to the hill. is john boehner now facing the rising tide against his yacht owners and the like? >> i think he is. a 60-37 margin on supporting raising taxes on the wealthy is pretty definitive. most issues are not that clear. the republican party just lost a big election. do they want to shrink below independence? they're pretty close. you know, most people identify themselves as democrats. second, republicans. third, independents. the republicans have lost so much ground that they're actually in danger of slipping below independence in terms of party affiliation. this does not help them. there just are not enough rich people, martin, for there to be a constituency for this. so, they're coming to terms with this now. tom cole is not a squishy, moderate republican. he's a conservative. john boehner wants to cut a

deal. he's saying these things now to maintain his street cred with the right wing, but the pieces are starting to move into place for some kind of a compromise. >> that's pretty optimistic. bill, this hour the president will be meeting with business leaders, including the great goldman sachs chief lloyd blank fin blankfein. what do you think he should ask of wall street and the nation's ceos? >> well, martin, it's a tough sort of conundrum because on the one hand this election, wall street ceos, of course, endorsed mitt romney with a passion. >> 3 to 1, i believe. >> well, the top eight of the top ten givers, donors to romney were wall street firms. so, you know, i'm not sure the president needs to -- is going to be willing to listen too closely to these guys. on the other hand, lloyd blankfein is part of this debt relief program. he's offered to raise his own taxes.

a lot of these ceos have made that offer. they should listen to them, take them occupy that offer. i mean, even bill kristol has said, raise these taxes, the economy will take off. during the clinton administration, tax -- top tax rate was 39.6% and the economy took off. let's do that again. >> as we hear earlier mitt romney will be at the white house tomorrow. he obviously doesn't need to worry about my2k because his is worth more than $100 million. what's the understanding of this meeting? we understand paul ryan will be there as well. >> i think the president wants to strike a bipartisan note. romney no longer has to mullify the right wing of his paerd. he doesn't have strong feelings about much of anything at all. is it possible he could come out and bless what these business executives have been calling for, which is the president's balanced approach?

anything's possible with mitt romney. and i think it very much makes sense for the president to extend an olive branch. you can say that -- >> but i thought mitt romney was -- hang on a second. i thought mitt romney was the one who proposed and espoused the notion of closing loopholes as the only way -- >> we know he's a flip-flopper. we don't have to -- >> that's true. >> he actually does -- it's easy to dump on him right now because he lost. but he got more than 60 million votes, you know. there are a number of people in this country who like mitt romney, voted for him. and if he endorsed a compromise, might be more willing to go along. >> bill, the discussions become a little dark around these issues. i want to you take a listen to chandler rome, a businesswoman, who spoke at the fix the debt coalition. take a listen. >> you know, great empires have fallen. the roman empire, the british empire and we are not infallible to this. >> i'm not sure she'll be

invited to buckingham palace saying things like that but could the american empire be in jeopardy if no deal is reached? >> you know, that's a little strong. i mean, there are many people who think the fiscal cliff is, of course, really the fiscal slope or the fiscal curve or the fiscal sandbox. i think that, you know, if we cut the budget, if we cut the deficit and raise taxes, i don't think that's the worst thing in the world. as warren buffett has been saying for the last 24 hours, are you really going to turn down a good investment opportunity just because the tax rates are a little higher in we're talking about a minor 4 percentage point increase in the upper end of the tax rate here. it's not life or death. you know, cutting the deficit and raising taxes, if they can't agree, which congress has shown themselves inability to agree. if they're not going to agree, maybe it's not the worst thing in the world for tax rates to go up and for the deficit to be cut. i think that could result in a big economic boom.

>> wow. >> and then, let's say two weeks after we go over the cliff, after the 1st of january, they then cut attacks for everybody -- >> but here's the problem with that notion. it's not fine. but, john, it's not fine because a lot of ordinary middle class people -- >> that's the problem. >> -- are trying to spend money at christmas and they're deeply anxious about what's going to happen in january. and these people don't appear to have any regard for the fact that the majority of americans agree with the president and they need to have some kind of certainty. what does it take speaker boehner, what will it take? >> see, this is the hammer that the president has over the republicans. is that going over the falls, going over the cliff, is not really that bad, okay? it would hurt people's christmas, granted, but people should know that it would not destroy the economy. and what would happen is two weeks into the new year -- >> when congress staggers back to work. >> -- retro actively back to the

first of the year, cut people's taxes who make less than $250,000. they would be back where they are right now. and the wealthy would have a tax increase. so, people should just understand, republicans need to understand, that the president's not bluffing. if they don't agree to his very reasonable terms on this, bring it on, we'll go over the falls. >> martin, you're too logical. >> i apologize, bill. >> you're absolutely right. i mean, if speaker boehner where a logical, normal human being and could respond properly to all the stimulus he's getting, this would be a no-brainer. it's clear that the republicans in the house are beyond logical thinking. so maybe to get them to act, we do have to go over the cliff. >> wow. gentlemen, thank you so much. next, what's really behind the attacks against ambassador susan rice? stay with us. >> if congress solved by not

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the outcome of meetings between u.n. ambassador susan rice and gop senators intent on undermining her may not be so important after all. because just moments ago she was given the only endorsement that may matter. >> susan rice is extraordinary. couldn't be prouder of the job she's done. >> a round of applause from the cabinet. we're joined with a round of

applause by msnbc executive editor richard wolffe and jonathan capehart. the gop keeps saying there are more questions but they don't appear to be any more answers that susan rice can give. if she keeps going at this rate she's going to get to all 45 gop senators, republican senators, by christmas. >> right. the reason she can't give more answers -- she can always talk about this thing, but the subject matter is really limited here. and either the republican senators who are finding it hard to follow or maybe the viewers of another cable news channel who have lost all track of what this story is about, the questions are about her performance on a group of sunday talk shows. the real story should be, and was supposed to be, about the security of foreign service officials in dangerous countries. she doesn't get to speak about that. she's not responsible for the security of those officials. the framework they're trying to

surround her and hunt her down on really comes down to her performance on a sunday talk show. there's only so many questions you can frame about that. they've run to the end of them. and they still want a bigger story and a bigger conspiracy. and as i've said before, i think this speaks to motives that are more than impure and actually offensive. >> there's always a new reason to oppose miss rice. on tuesday senator graham said this was for failed nomination of mr. bolton. and then they mentioned her in response to the 1990 african embassy bombings. there were two. take a listen. >> what troubles me so much is that the benghazi attacks in many ways echoes the attacks on those embassies in 1998 when susan rice was head of the african region for our state department. >> i should say that susan rice

couldn't remember and wasn't able to give any particularly detailed answer, so they started with benghazi that failed. now in 1998. how long will it be before they ask for ms. rice's birth certificate? >> you know, i don't know. and i'm surprised by senator collins because she is a moderate within the republican party in the senate. usually a level-headed person. to bring the two together is a little extraordinary because in one benghazi, susan rice has, as richard eloquently said a moment ago, has nothing to do with anything in benghazi except she went on television to talk about it. but the situation in -- the bombings in the 1990s, while susan rice was in the clinton state department and, you know, had some sort of purview over that, but how the two are related is beyond me. the other thing senator collins says in that exchange is that, well, wait a minute, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves

because she hasn't even been nominated for the position. and that's what makes this whole thing such an unbelievable circus. they're beating up on someone over a job she hasn't been offered. even though we know, we have a pretty good hunch she's going to be offered it, but the fact that she's being beaten like this before she's been officially designated as hillary clinton's successor is extraordinary to me. >> richard, some of our viewers, and others, have suggested that it may be because she's a woman and that she's black. and that's why the attack has happened. i say some others to include your good self. >> thank you. >> is there also not the opportunity for score-settling because in the past susan rice has been deemed to have slightly sharp elbows so they're using this as a convenient ways it were to get back at her for whatever -- >> look, let's set this into some context here. if what you care about is the state of security in libya and

whether -- >> but they didn't care about that because they didn't vote to provide 300 additional protection officers at these consulates and embassies. let's cut that out of the discussion. that is irrelevant. no one cares. >> whether or not gadhafi was in power or not, rice was a leading supporter to get him out of power. when the accusation about susan rice and sharp elbows comes into play it's generally from other people in the administration who have clashed with her because they didn't want to support the rebels in libya and she did. what you're seeing here is a war by proxy on the president. that's why the president said, if you want to come after me, come after me. and it always just happens to be people of color who are working alongside him. whether it's eric holder, the center of another vast and completely unfounded con sir sp, or valerie jarrett, or van jones, who is some kind of cookie communist, why is it

always people -- not tim geithner who maybe had a hand in the economy. you can construct any number of conspiracies. i'm not suggesting they do. but shawn donovan, howing secretary, housing is not doing great either. fox news has led this charm. maybe these republican senators are just pandering to fox news but maybe there's something deep-seeded about their resentment about the president and these proxies around him and they are not letting up. they're not letting up on us for pointing that out but that's not going to stop anyone. >> richard wolffe, jonathan capehart, thank you very much, indeed. stay with us. we have much more ahead. representative costa held a smaller christmas tree lighting last year and plans to do so again this year as she gets prepared to come on tv. she joins us live this morning. it's so great to speak with you again. good morning to you. >> good morning, gretchen. merry christmas. >> now, wait -- now they're

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is surprising her with one. save the surprise. shop online and ship to any zales store free. only at the diamond store. ♪ i'm lost in the light he's either the most responsible republican in the house or he's responsible for the worst act of betrayal sin as plotted to kill caesar. thomas cole says republicans should support his view on taxes. >> in my view we're not going to raise taxes on people that make less than $250,000. we should take them out of this discussion right now, continue to fight against any rate increases, continue to fight for a much bigger deal. >> but in the poerltales of pow es power, this is how john boehner responded to his colleague.

>> i told tom in our conference meeting i disagreed with him. he's a good friend and supporter of mine. >> luke russert joins us from capitol hill. luke, the speaker refers to mr. cole as one of his greatest personal supporters. but mr. cole has just torn speaker boehner's talking points to shreds and he's done it publicly. >> quite a development. thomas cole is former chairman of the nrc seat, che did a few years ago, which is really the wing of the house republican conference in charge of getting, what, house republicans elected to congress. so for him to come out and take this position shows you that there is an appetite, at least among some very prominent republicans, that perhaps go down this road and allow for an increase in tax rates. what i found interesting is after that, there is a race amongst a lot of other republicans to sort of come out and slam tom cole's, robert of idaho saying tom cole is part of

the problem. the outgoing member, the nrc, head of of the nrc, pete sessions saying, there's no appetite for that type of talk. what's interesting, martin, if you go back to 2010, the last lame duck, speaker boehner actually stepped in it when he was on "face the nation" and he said i would accept if it was the only thing i could get saving tax cuts for those making $250,000 or below. republicans were upset about that. he had to walk that language back. now you see the language is all or nothing on the bush tax cuts. >> and yet, luke, we have had an election. we have had exit polling. we have had a new poll in "the washington post" today, all of which appears to support the president. so, is speaker boehner going to be able, as you said, to step in it again and win at least 20, 30 republican colleagues? >> well, i think what you'll see, martin, going forward is the reason why they're taking such a tough line on this is because they're trying to strengthen their negotiating

hand. what you saw today was the messaging war from the republicans was, okay, we might not be moving on the tax issue in terms of rates, but we're willing to give revenue. what are democrats doing on entitlements? we're going to get bogged down between entitle manies and taxes, which republicans want to do. until we get past that messaging war, we'll get to the real work on the cliff, martin. >> great. please stay put, luke, we'll come back to you have day from now. >> take care. >> stay with us. the day's "toplines "are coming up. ♪ [ male announcer ] jill and her mouth have lived a great life. but she has some dental issues she's not happy about. so i introduced jill to crest pro-health for life. selected for people over 50. pro-health for life is a toothpaste that defends against tender, inflamed gums, sensitivity and weak enamel. conditions people over 50 experience.

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continue to work together. >> it's like congress put a gun to the economy's head. >> i'm so tired of obama putting i gun to the head of the american people. >> and he swore they would pull the tryinger. >> and then republicans saying, oh, what are we going to do? >> they want a divorce from grover near quist. >> an excuse to go to mexico, i'm game. >> what do you mean by impure thoughts. >> the mexican standoff without any mexicans. >> i have job security. >> they can't murder you. they can't burn your house. >> some republicans are abandoning the antitax pledge as fast as they abandoned -- oh, what's his name. >> governor romney, only the two men will be in the room. >> is getting stoned now becoming more acceptable? >> kentucky bluegrass feather beds and northern cal -- >> you know me, every day, ten pound a day. >> you can play 36 holes on it in the afternoon, take it home and just get stoned. >> it supposedly makes you lazy,

tired andle ette ar gwynn gik. >> a impig bob marley joint. look at this. >> he's just doing the pony. this is a fat guy from pyongyang. >> it's the christmas season. >> my hope is to get this done before christmas. >> rahm emanuel might want a holiday christmas card with crow bars and the baby jesus being beaten. ♪ kiss me baby >> have you to look and do a full autopsy of what happened. most people that were polled actually thought he would make a better president. >> what you talking about, willis? >> let's get right to our panel now. krystal ball is co-host of "the cycle" ask taure also co-host. one hour is clearly not enough for you. >> not enough for you. >> no, i love you both. you believe the house

republicans, the way they broke for the president, that they would choose when they appoint committee chairs to have diversity but, in fact, every single chair is a white male. can you explain that? >> you would think to also note asians went for obama. gay americans went for obama. women went for obama -- >> but the republican party continues with the old, white men. >> they don't understand the demography. they don't understand identity issues in general. i see a difficult time just even having twitter conversations with them about identity. anything you say that notices race it becomes a discussion. you're racist. noticing race doesn't mean you're a racist. look, many studies have shown that diversity in and of itself is positive for a body. having different people from different backgrounds helps the body come to a better position. >> that's what the evidence suggests. >> overwhelmingly so. they don't realize that. i don't know how many black and brown faces do they have in

their caucus so they're able to put at the head of committees. >> they have a few. what's your reaction to this? >> i see lots of diversity there. you've got beige. you've got eggshell. you've got ivory. there's a wide spectrum -- no, i mean, they do not have a lot of women. they do not have a lot of minorities in their caucus. they do have some, though. i would think given the fact they have broadly recognized they got trounced with my noerlt groups and they need to make a move to afeel a broader demographic. you would think they would be cognizant of this. it reminds me of when darrell issa held a committee hearing about birth control and didn't allow any women on the panel. >> on the first panel. >> did you just not think about it? how did you end up with horrible situation? >> part of what's happening, too, is that we see that white voters in general are not voting for black candidates. the president is one example out of thousands of elections we've had. it's very rare for a black candidate or a brown candidate

to emerge out of a mostly white district or area or state. in general white voters are not doing that. until white voters become more comfortable with electing black, brown or yellow faces to congress, to the senate, to governor's imaginemansions then have candidates, politicians who look like america. >> right. krystal, focusing on men for a moment, we've noticed that one particular network has something called a war on men. this is a sociological theory introduced ed od on "fox natio blaming women for the fact that some men can't find wives. now the folks at "fox and friends" are discussing this with a very special guest. >> do you find women aren't acting like women anymore and men are not acting like men anymore? >> oh, i think that's true with some men and some women but not for everybody. i don't to want to get into that

silly conversation. people that like complain about that a lot -- >> in the words of dolly parton, i don't want to get into that silly conversation. let's let people who like to bitch a lot talk about that stuff. i don't think i could have said that any better. >> a few people on this planet i love more than dolly parton. i love her. she nailed it right there. this is an argument that's been made for decades. it's women's fault -- that women in the workplace, it's going to hurt our society. it's going to be bad for men. we are meant to be in the home with the family and the whole world will be turned upside down. now, i thought it was a debate we had moved past, but apparently some of our friends at another network feel this is an ongoing debate that needs to be heard. >> another example of how they have a difficult time dealing with identity issues, whether it's race or gender. they come to it like children to physics. like they don't know how to deal with it at all.

these generizatie generalization because they don't act like john wayne and women aren't women because they don't act like ward cleaver and -- i don't understand that. we are in what people call a "he-session" because more men have lost work than women in the recession. women gaining economic power is good for both genders. it's good for the entire country. like, why are we fighting against that? >> is it possible that they lost the war on women so now they're starting a new war on men? >> i think they're always looking for a war on something to rile up their people. i mean, normally this time of year is when the war on christmas gets rolled out, which i think they're -- that's also going on. >> we'll be addressing the war on christmas very soon. >> yes. i think it's a way to play to the folks who voted for mitt romney, frankly.

free do predominantly, white, older men who feel like their life is slipping away. in bill o'reilly's phrase -- >> we should talk about that tomorrow on "the cycle" which airs at 3 p.m. on msnbc. >> thank you for that. we had lloyd blankfein of goldman sachs in washington, he's lobbying to keep his taxes low. he has a pension pot of around $1.9 million. and republicans are talking about protecting small business. but it's really, is it not, protecting big business? that's what this is about, is it? >> of course. the number of small businesses and we're talking about the tax cuts being raised for those making over $250,000. only 3% of small businesses fall into that category. everybody, of course, experiences the benefit from that first $250,000 tax rate cut. so it really is just propaganda. you know, it's making americans feel like it's small businesses being hurt. it's really coming out of people

who can afford to pay a little more in taxes. any time you cut the deficit, which is something republicans have been pushing, it is economically painful. that's kansian economics. you need to find the place where it will do the least hurt to the economy but that's where they say we can cut it here and it will do the least pain to the economy. >> this is the party of the wealthy. talking about their concern for small business. i want to break out the tiny violin. they're brilliant coming up with the term "job creator" which really means what? super rich guy or just rich guy. it's politically painful. job creator sounds valuable. it's more pc. sort of like death panel. they have a good way of coming up with these terms that are politically -- that sound good politically -- >> as ever, thank you both. next, will republicans listen to one of their own and

extend tax cuts for the middle class? stay with us. >> now, some republicans are abandoning the antitax pledge as fast as they abandoned -- oh, what's his name? i got it. i got it. shh, don't help me. don't help me. rip flambot. ♪

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let's get you on the right path. call today. ♪ progresso. in what world do potatoes, bacon and cheese add up to 100 calories? your world. ♪ [ whispers ] real bacon... creamy cheese... 100 calories... [ chef ] ma'am [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. going over the fiscal cliff will hurt our economy and hurt job creation in our country. this is not good for our country. it's as simple auts that and th president wants it. >> republicans act like they have a strong card to play with the so-called fiscal cliff. but who are they snoolg according to a new poll, 60% of americans are in favor of letting the bush tax cuts for the super rich expire. now with members of speaker boehner's own caucus desserting

him, the republican goose may well be cooked in time for christmas. let's bring in peter welsh. good afternoon. here's more from speaker boehner at his press conference earlier. >> you know me, i was born with the glass half full. i'm an optimist. >> reporter: as far as spending cuts go, what specific cuts would you like to see? what programs? >> well, again, we'll have that conversation with the president. we don't need to have it here. thanks, everybody. >> congressman, it sounds like mr. boehner had the stuffing knocked out of him. when it comes to specifics it sounds like the romney campaign, what, 18.0? >> that's more or less right. the president ran on a very specific platform, expired tax cuts for folks above $250,000. boehner came back after the election and said, you know what, we have to put revenue on the table. now it's time for the speaker to show us the money. he's got to tell the president specifically what his plan is.

basically you're starting to see defections on the republican side. tom cole is a savvy survivor. he said we have to go with the obama plan. basically what he understands, that i think the speaker maybe understands is sometimes in politics as in life have you to do something you don't want to do. what the republicans don't want to do is raise revenues from the wealthy, but they have to and they must and they will. >> but congressman, the last time i looked, the president had won the election. and exit polling showed more people agreed with his approach on taxes than even voted for him. now, i understand that speaker boehner doesn't like the fact that he lost and we offer him our condolences every day. isn't it time he responded to what voters want? this is what voters have said. >> well, exactly. i think eventually he'll get there because the alternative in stone walling to hold onto those tax cuts for the wealthy is

christmastime will be a $2200 tax bill. that's a disaster for them. it will hurt the economy, as the speaker was saying but that will be on them. so, he's got an out. the challenge, since he has a caucus that does not want to do what that caucus knows it must do is let the clinton continue for 98% of americans and we raise some revenue from the folks at the top 2%. >> congressman, you mentioned representative tom cole and he's been honest enough to accept the vot vot voters' verdict and said we should accept tax cuts for those earning more than $250,000. do you think he can influence others in. >> i think he's the canary in the coal moon. t he's trying to do reality therapy for some colleagues in the conference. they cannot have the alternative. the alternative, if they stonewall, is that $2200 tax

increase that's their christmas present to the american people. it's not acceptable. they'll go kicking and screaming all the way to the end of this year. but the end of the -- at the end of the debate they are not going to allow, i don't think, taxes to go up on 98% of americans in order to protect the top 2%. >> finally, i mean, you talk about this being a bad christkr present but people are planning their holiday shopping. they need to know if they'll have a bigger tax bill. shouldn't they know that now? >> they should know that now. there's no reason for a delay. the republicans just won't take it up. basically, there's just a lot of resistance. the republicans know they lost. the exit polls showed even romney voters support the obama position. they just don't to want do it. at a certain point, do you have to do some things that you want -- you don't want to do.

cole made a nice comment. he said this isn't theology, it's about practical politics. we have run this place as everything is an ideological debate for the last two years. tom cole is a voice for practical problem solving. >> congressman peter welch, thank you. next, the white house begins to feel the spirit of the season. so do we. stay with us. ♪ although it's been said many times many ways ♪ new trident layers juicy berry + tangy tangerine is a thrilling, dual-flavored ride to mouth fun-town. but it's not like everyone is going to break into a karaoke jam session. ♪ this will literally probably never happen.

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the scene is set for the annual lighting of the christmas tree here at rockefeller center. it seems the president has decided to enter into the holiday spirit himself by inviting his vanquished opponent mitt romney to the white house for lunch tomorrow. today's briefing, press secretary jay carney put to rest

at least one theory about why mr. romney was asked to stop by. >> is governor romney here tomorrow in some kind of cabinet level position? audition for that position? >> no. >> nbc's mike viqueira is live at the white house. he would never laugh at such a question. if there's no cabinet position is in the offing, is he willing to tell mitt romney what a great job he did at the olympics? >> reporter: i think that's what it boils down to. there's a ritualistic part of it, the two burying the hatchet, breaking bread tomorrow. a lot of people expected this to happen. it's not going to be in public view, by any means necessary, although you can bet that your diligent cameramen and producers will be running all over the town looking to find pictures of mitt romney. but they will not allow the quote/unquote photo spray in the

private dining room. which if you're a white house buff is over the corner, when the two men meet tomorrow afternoon. some smart alec in the front row asked whether gifts would be exchanged because, of course, the president gave john boehner a gift of wine. >> a wine you know a great deal about because you were at that very vineyard. >> calle >> reporter: it is a delicious quaff, as we discussed last week. mitt romney does not drink and that could have been an illusion to the fact that they say president obama won because of the gifts he bestowed among many americans. >> we know the president started a meeting with some of the most powerful business leaders in the country. can he convince those that voted for his. >> reporter: elections have consequences. the ceo of home depot and other

organizations, marriott, that supported his opponent very forcefully, very strongly, are right now in the west room. in 1864 lincoln had the residence to twist arms, in 1964 lbj had the oval office. the president has twitter and he has internet. they started an internet and twitter kam taken to put pressure on the republicans in the house to avert the fiscal cliff. >> thank you so much. >> we'll be right back. wasn't my daughter's black bean soup spectacular? [ man thinking ] oh, this gas. those antacids aren't working. oh no, not that, not here! [ male announcer ] antacids don't relieve gas. gas-x is designed to relieve gas. gas-x. the gas xperts. a wiit takes some doing.n't tjust happen.s. some coordinating.

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clusters of pustules, pimples. i had this shingle rash right next to my spine.

the soreness was excruciating. it was impossible to even think about dancing. when you're dancing, your partner is holding you. so, his hand would have been right in the spot that i had the shingles. no tango. no rhumba. you can't be touched. for more of the inside story, visit shinglesinfo.com starts with arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news. it's time now to clear the air. have you to hand it to mr. lloyd blankfein, the brash executive of goldman sachs. mr. blankfein, who did not hold back in asking for and receiving

at least $10 billion in federal bailout funds just four years ago, is at the white house offering some advice on how the president should reduce the deficit. and he's decided that social security should be reconfigured because in his view, it's being stretched to do something that was never intended in the first place. >> social security wasn't devised to be a system that supported you for a 30-year retirement after a 25-year career. >> social security wasn't devised to be a system that supported you for a 30-year retirement after a 25-year career. i'm not sure who mr. blankfein had in mind when he made that comment, but for an investment banker he doesn't appear to be very good with numbers. because while he says that most people enjoy a 30-year retirement on social security, here's what the reality actually looks like. according to data compiled by

the social security administration, a man reaching age 65 today can expect to live on average until the age of 83. that's 18 years on social security. and a woman turning 65 today will live for 20 years on social security. so, mr. flank fein s clearly operating from a bogus set of figures. it's not unusual for him or his bank to try to sell crooked numbers. you'll remember two years ago mr. blankfein's young lieutenants, daniel sparks, went before a senate committee to explain why goldman sachs decided to sell financial products they knew were worthless. the man asking the questions is senator carl levin. >> okay, you're trying to sell [ bleep ] deal and it's your top priority. come on, mr. sparks, should goldman sachs being able to sold -- by the way, it sold a lot after that date, should go